When Is it Ever ‘Good Enough’?

I find myself wondering this question a lot these days. As authors we spend months, sometimes years working on a single project to make it… well if not perfect, at least good enough that we can say we’re happy with it enough to put it out into the world. But when is it actually good enough? Where is the limit where you can finally say, this is it. I have nothing left to give to this project?

Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” but when is a project even good enough to abandon? I’ve worked on my current work-in-progress a lot over the years, and each time I’ve thought to myself, this is going to be it. The final time, this is going to be the version that feels right to me. And for a brief moment it almost is, but then something happens, and I find myself starting over once more.

I want to believe that this is really it, that when I put the finishing touches on the final draft that I will finally be able to put this book behind me enough to continue on through the series, but the funny thing is, I realize that it’s going to take effort to finally let it go.